1909 -1918 · Nervous line, modern model and truth of the body

Schiele transforms the Viennese portrait: hands, gaze, silhouette and empty space reveal a presence more acute than worldly resemblance.

Egon Schiele left the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts in 1909 and founded the Neukunstgruppe with young artists. Supported by Gustav Klimt, he quickly abandoned the decorative elegance of the Secession for an angular line, tense bodies and fragmentary colors. His portraits concern collectors, critics, artists, family members and close women. He does not seek to flatter. The head can tilt, the hands tie, the body twist or float on bare paper; each distortion makes visible a psychological tension. Wally Neuzil's portrait of 1912, conceived as a counterpart to the Self-Portrait with Physalis, balance of intimacy and geometric rigor. Wally looks directly at the viewer, close to the point of seeming accessible. Max Oppenheimer and Arthur Roessler belong to the artistic network that accompanied Schiele's beginnings; their faces and postures are defined by an incisive outline. From 1914, the portraits of Edith Harms, whom he married in 1915, gained new monumentality and empathy. Colorful clothing did not mask the body: it extended its structure. Colorful clothing did not mask the body: it extended its structure. Schiele often uses an empty or very small background, refusing the traditional social setting. The model often uses an empty or very small background, refusing the traditional social setting. The model often uses an empty or very small background, refusing the traditional social setting. The model often uses an empty or very small background, refusing the traditional social setting. The model often uses an empty or very small background, refusing the traditional social setting. The model often uses an empty or very small background, refusing the traditional social setting. The model often uses an empty or very small background, refusing the traditional social setting. The model often uses an empty or very small background, refusing the traditional social setting. The model often uses an empty or very small background, refusing the traditional social setting. The model often uses an empty or very small background, refusing the traditional social setting majors of Austrian expressionism. The "Portraits of Egon Schiele" selection notably compares Portrait of Wally Neuzil and Portrait of Max Oppenheimer. His reading favors figures.

Schiele does not distort the model to distance it from the truth: he stretches the line until presence becomes impossible to avoid.